McFadden’s

Bar/​dance club that is great. Great place for drinking with a group of friends and enjoy beer.

I like this place for Happy Hour. The draft choice is good and the happy hour food is plentiful and well priced. On a Friday Eve. the place is not crowded and you can have a conversation with your friends without shouting. One warning: watch your bill. I’ve had one incident where they overcharged (doubled my bill) my card and one incidence where they added a $ 10 Patron that we did not order. The bar is English pub style and is convenient for Max riders. Check it out.

I was here on a really slow night and I have friends who work here, so my experience is a little biased to say the least.
First thing I noticed was how terrible the «DJ» was. Seriously, I would have been happier if I could have gotten the iPod out of my car. Memo to the «DJ’s» here, just because you THINK you understand how to use Serato, and all your friends tell you after 30 beers how sick your «mixes» are, DOESN’T make you a DJ. Hate to be the one to break it to you, but playing five consecutive Lady Gaga songs does not a mix make.
Second, would have to be the complete lack of human activity. (Probably due to the «DJ» making ears bleed)
Third, where is the waitstaff? I understand they were slow, so I didn’t expect a beehive of activity, but after looking around the entire place, I couldn’t locate one.
The saving grace for me was the bartender. She was super friendly and to say she poured generous shots would be a gross understatement. We chatted most of the night, and I never had a empty glass in front of me. Thanks for saving my evening.
In closing, I REALLY wanted to like McFadden’s. The owner is a friend, and I LOATHE the places around it (IE. Dirty), but this night just had too many hiccups to overcome.

I went here on St Patrick’s Day last year, and had a really nice time– because it was 2 pm. It being St Patty’s Day, and me being a redhead, I was plied with all sorts of goodies from drunk old guys. They even gave my boyfriend a free beer too. Nice old drunk guys.
Shortly after we got there, they started charging a cover. Which is fine, because it’s St Patrick’s Day… but then I went back on a weekend night a few weeks later, and they were charging a cover again! Seriously? And I could see over the beefy bouncer’s shoulders that it was a pulsating nightclub in there. Isn’t that backwards? Aren’t Irish pubs supposed to be crazy and weird on St Patty’s Day, and chill and relaxed the rest of the year? My conclusion: You are a blemish on the good name of Irish pubs, McFadden’s.
If it wasn’t for that free beer, and glowing shot glass, and Jameson cap, that I got on St Patrick’s Day, I would hate you. Now I just won’t go back and have my fond memories tarnished. Until 1 pm on St Patty’s Day this year, that is…

This place is just stupid.
You ever just not understand something’s existence? That’s how I feel about this place.
I was here for the trivia event a few other reviewers on here are complaining about (yeah, this review has been sitting incomplete in my About Me section). I got a few happy hour items. Mozzarella sticks were clearly the frozen kind and their chips and salsa sucked. As the others said, there was one waitress for over 100 people. Dumb.

I’ve not been here at night for the club scene, it’s not really my thing. Maybe being a night club is «their thing» because the rest of the time they are really sub-​par.
It’s a very large space inside, with big windows, cozy décor, and a large patio. There’s ample seating at the bar and many booths and tables throughout. They’ve got a great happy hour menu and the food is pretty good. But everything is hit and miss. The fries can be sooooo delicious, but they can also be cold and undercooked. Incredibly, I recently had a batch that was a mixture of both. Service can also be erratic. Sometimes I’ll get a great waitress who is friendly and helpful. Lately though, I seem to end up with the eternal new-​hire. She’s friendly, but not good. Other staff members apologize for her because «she’s new.» That excuse has worn out it’s effectiveness. At our last visit, the food came quickly but we were still waiting for our drinks 20 minutes later. Our waitress would disappear for large chunks of time. When we decided to pay, it took her twenty minutes to get the receipt back to us to sign, during which time, I spotted her at the bar chatting with friends.
I do keep going back, because it’s hard to find a laid back Irish pub in this town. My friends and I keep our expectations low, and occasionally, our expectations are met.

Just pathetic. We were here for our trivia finals yesterday from 4 – 7:30. Let’s see here, 20 teams, 6 people a piece equals 120 people. Plus regulars brings it up to 150. I think a stellar idea would be to have 3 waitresses and one bartender for the whole place. Sounds like a great idea, right?
It took us 2 and a half hours to get chips and salsa (!!), mozzarella sticks, and a mediocre quesadilla. We never even caught wind of the mac and cheese we ordered at 4 pm by the time we left at 7:30. I’m sure they run a bit more smoothly come 10 pm on friday/​saturday, but this was really quite pathetic.

Good Dance Club… a good mix of people. always get love at McFaddens!
Relaxed crowd and lots of horny people! ha ha
If you don’t have anywhere to go… just move over to McFaddens! I guarantee somebody in your crowd would love it!

I’m not sure what it’s like during the night but the happy hour is super cheap and I likey.

I will ALWAYS remember the summer of 2007. McFaddens was THE place to be. I did afterall meet my husband there.
I’ve read all of these reviews, most of them are negative and all I have to say is, who were you there with?
When I went with my BFF it was to meet up with a HUGE group of people. Of course there were a few douche bags, and the perverted hispanic guy who would sneak up to girls who were dancing with other people and stick his hand up your dress BUT you couldn’t help but have THE best time at McFaddens. It’s the atmosphere… You can bring the same group of friends to Barracuda and not have ANY fun at all.
One thing I do agree with some of the other Unilocalers, it’s a like a high school reunion every time you go… but for me that was half the fun.
The bartenders were AWESOME. You just have to find the right one, I had my favorite and he’d hook up free drinks sometimes. Everything’s more fun when you’re VIP status though.
I haven’t been since 07 so things may have changed, but definitely my favorite place EVER.

Maybe I went on an off night, but the place seemed huge because it was incredibly empty. There were 2 dressed up girls in the entire joint & they were being hooted at and hit on like nobodies business, but they didn’t mind at all.
Then, for being incredibly empty, the bartender was completely not attentive. He’d just stand there staring off even when our drinks were emtpy & sitting at the bar maybe a foot away from him. Perhaps he was thinking of the glory days… but it was definitely bizarre.
It’s a cool looking place, so it’s kind of a shame, but there are plenty of other places to have a good time.

Remember that game «light as feather, stiff as a board» ?
It’s where a «victim» would lie on the ground with their friends circled around and attempt to lift him/​her each with only a few fingers. Impossible, right? However upon the imagination of the victim’s death coupled with the continual chanting «light a feather, stiff as a board» they would become surprisingly easy to «levitate».
This trickery of the mind is totally in sync with the whole McFadden’s experience.
We all know (or have heard) what this place is like and who the people one expects to find are. And you can’t fault them for it. Of course these partying folks need a place to go in town, much like cougars need the Portland City Grill and foodies need le Pigeon.
And McFadden’s does the cover-​charging, anxious, popped collar, co-​ed hormone fest… but they do it well.
Yet that’s only a small sect of their operation. The amazingly nice staff here has made it a point to be a spot everyone can hit up at one time or another. In this part of Portland, it’s no simple task to find a reliable and safe place to grab a bite during or after work and school.
Do do you know you can get a kick ass sit down lunch here for less than $ 10? Or that their amazing happy hour (from 4 – 7 every night) offers a great menu with $ 2-​$ 4 prices when you grab a pint? Do you realize that when the lights aren’t flashing, the top 40 dance hits aren’t bumping and the mechanical system isn’t trying to filter the toxic levels of Calvin Klein it’s actually a really chill place to hang out?
Of course not. It’s impossible to conceive.
But that’s the game.

Cue in a shocking gasp here…
3 STARS!!!
What are you thinking?
Well, I used to frequent McFadden’s quite often few years ago. I think it’s a better bar/​dance club than Barracuda. I had great times here, they used to have theme nights like the 80’s night (I rocked my rocker tank top and mini skirt. very white trashy rocker chick look). Halloween party there was pretty fun.
Pros for this place are they can make my favorite mixed drink, SKITTLES… The taste of it just like the Skittles candy. Their outdoor patio seating is pretty nice to get some fresh air.
Cons of this place were, when it’s packed there’s no room to dance on the dance floor. It’s a meat market place and full of fraternity type of guys. It’s still a better scene than what’s going on one block over…

I have never been in a frat house but I kind of imagine this is what it might be like. Loads of popped collar dudes having beer chugging competitions while huge groups of girls danced with each other. I didn’t have any problems with the bartenders as others have mentioned but the DJ… my God. First off, I managed to hear the same song 3 times in less than 90 minutes, second off trainwreck is not a mixing style… if you can’t beatmatch then you might be better off not trying, just bang the new track in and be done with it. The place was full to the brim though, dancefloor packed beyond belief…
I want to give it 2.5 stars but will go ahead and be nice and round up.

McFadden’s is going on a downward spiral fast as things have gotten so tacky that its hard to take it seriously as an Irish Pub or a tricked out Dance Club.
Back in the day (read: 3 years ago and beyond), this place used to be a great place to hang out, with cool lunch specials, solid sports bar atmosphere, beautiful wait staff, and a nice club scene.
Once it hit a certain time in the night, the staff would quickly move all the tables to make way for the line that would be forming outside and get people in to dance to a lot of 80s and Top 40 music. Then overcrowding became an issue and they began charging cover ($ 10) to get a piece of the action. Basically, the owners were doing a little too much with this place to bring exposure and of course, money.
Now the lines are still long, the staff has become pretentious and the crowd is more ghetto than ever. The DJ spinning inside is fairly decent, but in a sports bar of all places? At the very least they could improve the décor a tad to honor the high end guests they’re looking to score. This is all of course on a weekend, the weekdays the place is a whole ‘nother joint.
Their lunch specials and happy hours are still relatively decent. The food is not amazing, but the prices are reasonable given their subpar attempt at semi-​gourmet bar foods. Aside from that, avoid at all costs for nightlife and sports bar love. Now if they could only get their own parking lot …

I have rather mixed feelings about this place. It was relatively clean and lacked the normal stickiness of most clubs/​bars. The bathrooms are surprisingly large and clean! Friday nights are relatively uncrowded which is nice. I had a margarita that was quite good. Their gin and tonics are blah (I should remember to ask for Tanqueray). The crowd is an interesting bunch and rather entertaining to watch/​make fun of.
Cover=$ 7.00 – TOTALLY not worth it! And I really wish Portland would ban indoor smoking all together!

Want to gain VIP entry? (cause you are so cheap and poor to pay 10 $ for cover)
guys: be a highschool drop out that looks like a fratboy. (they won’t know the difference)
wear some cheap cologne. how do you know what’s cheap? try to smell what everyone is wearing. it maybe a little expensive but voila! it just got cheap because every guy in town heading towards McFadden’s is wearing it.
wear your clubbing uniform. a button down shirt with prints or the ones that matches the pattern, textile and color of your boxers.
girls: wear something that reeks of sorrority sluttiness, maybe you’re trying to reinvent yourself for a night! (this is not vegas and everyone will eventually know you). skirts, the shorter the better!, jeans/​pants are for nuns.
wear stipper cologne (those sweet and fruity scents that will make you gag as you shower your sorry self with it)
both: have your forehead tattooed with DESPERATE. bob your head in sync with the music as you enter. yeah!
the bar has to be one of the most annoying part of the place. slow and unattentive.

Loved watching a drunk guy telling some girl she had nice tits and then getting bitched the hell out.
Good music, large space, a lot of hooking up, a lot of drunks.
However the bartenders can eat shit out of a cup. Well that’s what the drinks they made tasted like anyways. And then for them to have the audacity to state they better get a big tip. O HELL NO! I think I’m usually too damn generous when I tip, and you can believe that if he hadn’t have opened his pie hole he would’ve gotten it, but after his statement, u can kiss my fat ass and the tip goodbye.
I’m sure I would feel a lot different if I have gone earlier or on another day, but you only have once to make an impression on a tourist and I can say they fucked it up.
I feel terrible to have to judge them so harshly, and I feel that I should give them another chance, but my pride won’t let me.

NO.
i almost left it at that, but i do have to explain my reasons for being harsh.
the music was ok, dancers looked like they were hot and horny for everything and plus the pole, bouncer was cool, LOVED the drunk entertaintment after the lights came on and everyone had to get the F out.
so what the heck is my problem? i suppose i’m really freakin’ smart while i’m intoxicated and i tend to analize clubs and bars for their enviornment, music, patrons, employees (including service), consummed goods and how long the place can entertain me. Most of the above are important elements put together in order for the system to work correctly and bitches like myself could have a good time. or you can just get shit-​faced and forget about the whole.
While i have stated everything was good, the one thing that killed our happy drunken-​night to an aggressive boxing match was the bartender. bartenders should already know never to upset a drunk because they may have made the mistake of releasing the beast. I won’t go on a detailed rant and rave, but i will point out that pouring sprite and water into a cup of ice and charging $ 9 is ridiculous when the order was for a Lemon Drop. That wasn’t the highlight of of the brawl, no sir, it was when the bartender tapped the person paying for the drink and say «WTF is THIS? i should get a BIG tip for serving you after hours». he or any of the other bartenders would’ve recieved a nice tip if we weren’t standing there for 10 minutes being ignored by ALL bartenders, he walks by, rings the bell and FINALLY offers his service to us. apparently $ 5 wasn’t enough for him, since he claimed to have recieved a $ 4 bill.
ok i lied… i just totally ranted.

McFadden’s may be where over-​cologned boy band dropouts go to die, but let’s be honest — it is tough to find dancing in Portland that isn’t an overall tragedy. I mean — we do a lot of things well, but dancing isn’t one of them.
Admittedly or not, McFadden’s is still the rage of Portland’s young single scene and one of the city’s more popular attempts to satisfy a non-​existent club scene. If you must go, call ahead to get on the VIP list so that you don’t have to pay a cover and your drinks are discounted. And of course, mind the shameless pick up lines and dance floor groping. Finally, leave your camera at home. Chances are you won’t want to remember more than you need to… and neither will your married dance partner.